That's probably correct then, since that is an official video. I was just going by the wording on page 3 of the manual, and they seem to have forgotten to list I2S. Plus it makes sense as you can use the Matrix X SPDIF 2 and 3 to go from USB to I2S. And the Element S basically contains an X...

I'm actually not positive it can do USB in to I2S out. Seems like it should be able to, but the manual specifically says coax, AES, and optical, omitting the I2S option from that sentence. Maybe just a mistake on their wording though? I will have to try it when I get a chance.

As much as I love the Cen.Grand sound, I think in your case it makes the most sense to grab the Merason DAC1 and enjoy it.

You sent me a message with basically the same question but I'll reply here in case the answer is useful to others. As you could probably tell by my initial writeup, I quite liked the Merason DAC1. It's a very involving, engaging DAC that I suspect would sound great in most systems. I did end...

Yes you can switch modes via the front panel and also using the app. I can't imagine having to power cycle or move cables, that seems really inconvenient. I think the only thing you can't do is run it as a DDC and also select the USB output to feed your DAC. That gets disabled in DDC mode, so...

But they listened in show conditions, which in my experience makes it impossible to draw any meaningful conclusions on things like amp/headphone pairings. Shows are great to get a really baseline idea of what a headphone generally sounds like. Especially closed back headphones and IEMs. Beyond...

I don't currently have Apple Music to test, but I do recall a big talking point of both the XSPDIF 3 and the Element S is that they can be used with tablets or phones. Whether or not you get bit perfect output/hi-res output is more dependent upon your device and software though... but I can say...

Keep in mind Violectric initially made some 24/192 boards with a newer Tenor chip, so those do exist along with the older Tenos 24/96 and also the XMOS version. I do think the XMOS is probably "better" than the Tenor solutions, just in terms of general compatibility or future proofing. But...

I guess you could go back through this thread and scour the pics, see if anything stands out in terms of the physical USB B port and maybe what color it is or some other tiny detail. It does seem like a very long shot though - who says they didn't change part over the years, unrelated to the...

I don't think there will be any way to tell from an external view. After all, a USB B port is a USB B port, and I don't recall there being any sort of labelling which said "24/192" or whatever. The seller would be able to check using various methods though. If they are using a driver, that...

I spent a bit of time on the HA-300 as well.

Wow that's very strange! I wonder what could have caused it? Seems like a display failure (I've had vertical lines on big flat panel TVs before so I assume there is a similarity). But I don't get how it would appear based on just moving the device like you described. I would definitely reach...

Wow looks like a beast!